Coupler for ferrule-ended cables



June 13, 1950 MCGOVERN 2,511,283

COUPLER FOR FERRULE ENDED CABLES Filed March 22, 1949 JOHN J. M GOVERN Inventor Gttornegs Patented June 13, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT QFEICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a coupler for ferrule-ended cables and, more particularly, is the provision of a newconstruction of bull hook commonly used in logging operations for the coupling of knob-ended choker cables used in connection with moving logs.

Bull hooks are known in the art and usually include a shelf that has a slot let in from one side of a width substantially that of the cable diameter and on which shelf the knob or ferrule on a cable end is caused to rest. From the shelf normally extends, at right angles thereto and on each side of the slot, a pair of pillars which are spaced apart and shaped to provide a throat between the shelf slot and an enlarged mouth through which the cable ferrule is inserted from that side that is in line with the open end of the slot in the shelf. Normally the ferrule is passed through the mouth so that the cable may be caused to enter the throat and pass to the shelf slot whereupon the ferrule can be brought to rest on the shelf on the sides of its slot.

In the Pacific Northwest, where logging operations are carried on in heavily Wooded, rugged and rough country, the hauling lines must often traverse rock piles, down logs, stumps, brush and the like. As they do so, they bounce and jump and jerk wildly and the choker cables move a considerable amount in most bull hooks. When the cables raise from the shelf the ferrule often is aligned with the entrance mouth to the throat and slot, so that they accidentally or unintentionally come out of the bull hook. In use, the previous bull hooks have been unsatisfactory in this manner because the chokers are lost or misplaced, logs may be dropped where they are not desired, and workmen can be hurt by wildly travelling, unloaded bull hooks. Further than that, such a disconnection is time-consuming and wasteful, because a workman has to re-locate the choker if it is empty and carry it to where it is useful, or he has to have the bull hook returned for reconnection of the choker. Such a workman is, naturally, taken away from his other duties.

To my knowledge and within my long experience in such logging operations, 1 have never learned of a bull hook that is suitably arranged to guard against such unintentional disconnections of the choker cables. Such attempts as have been made require moving parts that can be damaged and thus destroy the usefulness of the hook, or they are so complicated of operation as to require too much time when connection or intentional disconnections are desired. Or

they require tools that the workman must keep handy for only occasional use. It i with these and other objections to the prior devices that I have concerned myself in the development of the device disclosed herein.

Having in mind the foregoing, it is among the important objects of this invention to provide a coupler for ferrule-ended cables that is simple to construct and use; that has a long and useful life under extreme conditions of usage; that permits rapid coupling and manual intentional disconnection while, at the same time, precludes accidenta1 or unintentional disconnection; that does not operate upon the cables or their ferrules in a harmful manner; that can be produced by the simplest foundry practices and without requiring machining; and that functions to guide a ferrule rising off the shelf to an entrapping bight from which it will not normally move to the mouth under conditions of jumpin and jerking over the ground or in the air.

The details and advantages of my invention are more fully described and pointed out in the following specification, the invention being defined as to construction and arrangement of parts as set forth in the claims. In the accompanying drawings, to which the specification alludes and in which like reference characters designate like parts in the various views:

Figure 1 is a pictorial view illustrating the use of my invention in a logging operation;

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a bull hook embodying my invention and showing in detail the arrangement of parts thereof; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view, from a slightly different angle than that of Figure 2, showing the use of the hook in connection with a ferruleended cable member.

Briefly, my invention lies in the provision, in a bull hook, of a horn that is disposed across the throat of the hook between the mouth and the seating slot in the shelf. This horn functions to resist upward raises of the ferru1e and to entrap the same to prevent accidental dislodgment of the cable from the throat of the hook. Means is also provided to guide or direct a rising ferrule to said horn to insure the entrapment of the cable in the hook. These desirable results are obtained in the manner more fully set forth in the following portion of this specification.

Referring to Figure 2 particularly, the bull hook is seen to includ the shelf 10 having the cable slot l2 let into it from one side. The slot 12 is of a size slightly larger than the cable C that is to pass therethrough and the shelf is of a size suitable to support the ferrule F with portions of the latter resting on the shelf ledges on each side of the slot. Extending from shelf Ill, generally at right angles thereto, is a pair of pillars l4 and 16, which are spaced apart from each other to form a throat l8 therebetween. This throat flares, in size from the width of the slot [2 to a width substantially that of the ferrule diameter, to merge with the mouth or adit opening 20 through which the ferrule is introduced.

The ends of the pillars l4 and I6 opposite the shelf are joined by an arch 22 that is pierced to provid eye 24, by which the hook is joined to a hauling line through the instrumentality of line 26, the swivel 28, clevis 3U, cross-head 32, from which extends the in-haul line 34 and out-haul line 36.

The ends of the pillars l4 and I6 adjacent the shelf are slightly cupped or curved around that portion of the shelf on which the ferrule rests as at 38 and 39,. The flare of th throat I8 is obtained by cutting away the inwardly extending portions of the pillars and increasing their spacing to about the size of the ferrule in cross-section.

In the mouth 20, which is substantially oval, is mounted a horn 40 which is carried by pillar I4 and extends across the mouth and its axis toward the other pillar l6 so that between the end of the horn and pillar Hi there is a laterally curved restricted passage 42 that is positioned to one side of the axis of slot [2 and of the mouth 20.

The nor-n40 forms part of the wall of the mouth opening 20, through which the ferrule is introduced to the hook and curves away therefrom and toward the shelf. On that side nearest the shelf, the horn 40 is undercut to provide an arch or crook that overhangs the slot I2 and shelf In and which constitutes a bight for entrapping a choker cable C.

Pillar "3 has a boss 46 outstanding on its inner face toward pillar l4 and beneath the horn 42 and which slightly curves over the ferrule when it is in place on the shelf. This boss functions to direct and deflect the ferrule, should raise off the shelf, sideways of the throat, and to cause it to be entrapped in the bight formed by arch 44 of the horn. In the event that th cable C slides from slot [2, as shown in Figure 3, into the throat slot I 8, it is prevented from moving out the curved passage 42 of the throat to a point where the ferrule could slip out of mouth 20. Rather, the cable moves into the area over which the arch 44 lies and traps it.

In Figure 1, the cable C has an end eye E, through which the standing part of. th cable is threaded to form a loop which is passed around a log L. This is normal construction in th logging camps and is only shown for purposes of illustration.

From the foregoing it will be seen that my bull hook is capabl of simple production by normal foundry practices, that it can be built ruggedly and therefore have a long and useful life even under extreme conditions of operation, and that it will automatically function to entrap and retain choker cable ends for unintentional disconnection with the hook while at the same time permitting easy intentional disconnection as well as simpl connection.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a bull hook of th type wherein there is a shelf having a slot let in from one edge and a pair of spaced-apart pillars extending right angularly away from said shelf and flaring throat-like away from each other on opposite sides of said slot adjacent the open end thereof and joined by a suspending arch that partially encircles a mouth opening, of a size greater than the width of the slot, for the reception of a ferrule on the end, a cable that is passed to the shelf slot so that the ferrule rests upon the shelf on opposite sides of the slot, the structure, comprising: a horn outstanding on one pillar in said throat and extending across the median between said pillars toward the other pillar and forming a wall portion of the mouth opening, said horn having its end spaced from the other pillar to define a restricted passage to one side of the axis of the slot and of a width coextensive therewith, said horn being undercut on that side nearest the slot and the shelf to engage and retain a ferrule and cable raised from the shelf against unintentional disconnection from the bull hook.

2. The structure according to claim 1 in which there stands out from th pillar opposite that having the hook, a boss nearer the slot than the hook to engage a cable ferrule raised from said shelf to direct the same toward the underside of the horn.

JOHN J. MCGOVERN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 16,413 McIntosh Aug. 31, 1926 718,948 Green Jan. 20, 1903 2,165,377 Henry July 11, 1939 2,226,464 Gora Dec. 24, 1940 

